Old World
by wynnebat
Summary: There are worse things than attempting to raise your godson almost a century before he was born, as Harry finds out. SLASH, HP/AD, time travel.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I own little, and what I do own doesn't include any rights to Harry Potter. I also don't make any profit on this other than your lovely comments. This story was definitely inspired by Toki Mirage's Lemon Drops and Blood Pops, which made me realize what a cool pairing this is. Go read it, it'll inspire you too.

**WARNING: THIS IS A WIP. Up until the very end, I will be going back to revise things, edit majorly, and experiment with plot and characterization.**

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**CHAPTER ONE**

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It was a badly kept secret that wizards knew how to time travel. Under Ministry decree, no one but the Unspeakables, the Headmaster of Hogwarts, and select individuals were to know about the ability to time travel. Imagine what havoc it could cause, if people began to rally the Ministry for their own personal Time-Turners!

But the Ministry did not have a monopoly on time travel, if their method could be called such. Their time flowed in a constant stream, one that could not be knowingly changed and whose access was restricted to less than twenty-four hour travels. Apart from Time-Turners, there were methods far older than the Ministry itself, ones as uncontrollable and wild as time itself, for time was not a river but an ocean, surrounding the world and guiding it. Alongside Time walked its faithful friend Death, who far more humans encountered personally.

And sometimes, if asked correctly, Time would grant a special request. Such as a fold in its fabric, a bucket of water drawn and cleaned and returned back to the ocean that was time.

For Harry James Potter, that bucket of water held the twentieth century, and with a flash of brilliant white light he and Teddy were catapulted from the sky and into the early twentieth century like a shooting star.

Their landing, however, was a little less brilliant and a little more painful.

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Harry James Potter could say with full confidence that he hated every type of magical transportation. With Floo, there was always that small part of him that wondered if just maybe the green flames would still burn him, or if he would end up in some unknown destination again. Portkeys always felt like they might still take him to Little Hangleton's graveyard, even almost a decade after Voldemort's rebirth. Broomsticks were great for Quidditch, but their cushioning charms started failing after a few hours of continuous use, and the time it took to get somewhere was always too long. Flying carpets, not only illegal and unsafe, always attempted to buck him off when he got too relaxed.

Time travel, though was the worst. It was like being squeezed until he was a speck of dust and slingshot into space, then falling down with the feeling that he was going to break every bone in his body.

Speaking of his body…

"Ow," Harry groaned, rubbing his head. Even when after a Weasley family Christmas (and its copious amounts of nutmeg) his head had never ached that badly.

His hands met dirt and leaves when he tried to push himself up. With an expression of surprise, he patted the dirt and looked around. He, Teddy, and his trunk were in a dark forest, far away from the small house that they had been in only moments before. Harry was unable to stifle a smile despite his headache. They had done the impossible!

"That," Teddy declared as he jumped off of Harry's trunk. "Was so awesome. Let's do it again!"

The pounding in Harry's head only worsened at Teddy's loud voice. "Let's not, Teddy. _Lumos_." Under the light of his wand, Teddy looked the same as usual, wearing dirt-smudged children's robes, his hair in a bright green, and thin wire-frame glasses on his freckled nose. "Are you alright? I didn't think we'd crash so hard, kiddo," he said with a grimace. He checked Teddy over for bruising and brushed some dirt out of his hair.

"No. I'm tired," Teddy answered. He tugged on Harry's robes. "Pick me up?"

"Sorry. I only have two arms, so you'll have to walk for a bit," Harry replied, using his wand to check out their surroundings. "And I need one of them to hold a wand, because this looks a lot like the Forbidden Forest. I think life has really got it in for me."

He hadn't been in many forests in his twenty-two years of life, but the Forbidden Forest had a few markers of difference. Namely, centaur hoof-prints and suspiciously large spiders. What little natural light there was kept fading as evening set in, and Harry decided they should quickly leave before it became fully dark.

"Now, what do you say about—" hearing movement in the trees, Harry looked around just in case an Acromantula appeared, but didn't notice anything "—finding a place to stay, away from this lovely forest."

"Do you hear that," Teddy asked, shivering a little. "It's coming from over there."

The row of trees in front of them seemed silent to Harry's ears, but he tightened his grip on his wand all the same. "What do you hear?"

"Someone's talking," Teddy replied.

Slowly, Harry started to hear the same. The voice sounded masculine, and was nearing towards them, until the trees slowly parted to reveal a figure in the darkness. Harry aimed his wand at the area while pushing Teddy behind him. "Anyone there?"

"Hello!" a voice called from behind the trees. Harry's wand lowered fractionally, as one of the forest's monsters wouldn't speak with a cheerful tone. The hazy figure strolled into their clearing. "I hope neither of you are hurt. I saw a bright light, and decided to come down to make sure the forest was alright."

"Dad, Aunt Hermione didn't say we'd have a bright light," Teddy said, tugging on Harry's robes.

Harry ruffled his hair in reassurance, hugging the agitated five year old closer. He'd have to ask him later if he'd felt anything during their travel through time. "It's okay, kiddo. We just had a little help from a shooting star." After a moment of hesitation, the he spoke to the figure, a man in—were those purple robes?—he said, "No, we're good. A little dirty, but it's nothing a good bath won't solve. Would you mind helping us get to Hogsmeade? I think our portkey malfunctioned, and we went a little off course. We are in the Forbidden Forest, right? You're speaking English, so we can't have gotten too far off course."

Harry was incredibly glad he had a talent for lying through his teeth, because the man who had come out of the trees was a much, much younger Albus Dumbledore. His half-moon glasses and white hair were missing, but his robes were purple and his beard seemed to have a mind of its own. He had a shock of red hair atop his head - so much red after being used to the usual white was startling - and a fuzzy red beard to go along with it. He seemed to be only in his forties, or maybe even late forties, but had the endless good cheer that Harry had missed the last few years of his own Albus' life.

He looked so different than the Dumbledore Harry knew that Harry couldn't even describe. Harry rubbed at his scar, an old habit nervous habit. Seeing Albus Dumbledore alive again was something he'd prepared for, but it was too soon.

Albus held out his hand, for a handshake. "That is hardly a problem. My name is Albus Dumbledore. I'm the Transfiguration professor here at Hogwarts."

"I'm Harry Lupin and this is my son, Teddy. I promise, we're much cleanerunder normal circumstances," he said wryly, looking over his ruined clothes. When he took Albus' hand in his, he realized they had never shook hands before, in this time or in the future. Albus' hand was warm, his skin close to the muscle and bone. A younger man's hand.

Albus chuckled. "I'm sure. If you'll just follow me..."

Teddy poked Harry's thigh, getting his attention, and raised his arms up in a childish request for a piggyback ride. Harry set the trunk down and stooped to the ground. Teddy clambered atop his back and wrapped his arms around Harry's neck. He tried taking the trunk, too, but it was awkward to carry both Teddy and it.

"Allow me," Albus said, taking Harry's trunk off his hands.

"Were you traveling for the opening of Zonko's?" Albus asked.

Harry shrugged. "No, though we'll probably check it out once we get there. Teddy just wanted to see Hogwarts, even though he's much too young to go to school. I remembered the first time I saw it, and wanted to share the sight with him."

"It is a majestic building," Albus acceded.

"I thought it was the most beautiful building in the world when I first saw it. Oh!" he cried, almost walking into a tree in his distraction. "I completely forgot... Professor Dumbledore, would you please open my trunk?"

Albus undid the latch and lifted the lid, moving out of the way when he noticed something moving inside. A blur of brown and orange fur flew out of the trunk and settled on its feet, hissing at Harry, who wore a guilty expression.

"Sorry, Crookshanks," he muttered. "I didn't forget about you! I just had a lot on my mind, especially with our awful landing. Aren't you happy I let you out in the first place?"

Crookshanks lifted his tail at Harry and immediately strode out to the direction of Hogsmeade.

"I guess we should follow him?" Harry asked.

"You have a very intelligent cat. Yes, that is the way."

"He was my friend's, actually, but he wanted to come along for the ride and she wanted me to bring something that would remind me of her. He's a reminder, all right..."

"Thousands of years ago, cats were worshiped. Perhaps he hasn't quite forgotten those times."

Crookshanks swished his tail approvingly.

Eventually, they reached Hogsmeade (thankfully without running into any problems), where Albus directed them to The Cat's Cradle, a visitor's inn.

"Perfect place for you, eh, Crookshanks?" Harry asked, and turned to Albus. "Thank you for helping me out."

"It was my pleasure, Mr. Lupin, although I caution you to be more careful with your portkeys, lest you find yourself in more trouble than you can get out of."

He led his feline companion in and asked for a room, and put a tired Teddy to bed.

True to his word, the next day Harry took Teddy to Zonko's joke shop, feeling guilty and apologizing to the spirits of Fred and George, who would no doubt send a poltergeist to him if they caught him visiting a competitor's store.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

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The next morning, Harry was jarred awake by a loud thump on his bed, followed by something heavy crashing onto his arm.

"Teddy, if that's you..." he began, but a content purr coming from on top of his arm shattered that notion. Harry slowly opened his eyes, wondering how a cat got inside his house, and noticed the cats-on-clouds wallpaper in his room. Definitely not at home, he realized, wincing at the design. He turned his head away from the walls and to Crookshanks, who had found the perfect spot to sleep: half on top of his arm, half between Harry's arm and his body. "How did Ron and Hermione put up with you?"

Crookshanks just raised his lips, showing his pointy teeth, when Harry moved to get up, and Harry suddenly remembered Ron eagerly nodding when Hermione suggested he take Crookshanks with him. That traitor, he had known the cat was a feline dictator, and foisted the evil thing off on Harry!

Having untangled himself from Crookshanks (and dug the cat's claws out of his pajama sleeve), Harry went to wake up Teddy, who slept in the second bed in the room. Teddy twisted away from him, muttering, "Wanna sleep," so Harry pulled out the big guns and poured a stream of cold water from his wand into Teddy's hair, which automatically changed to blue.

"Dad," he whined, jumping out of bed. "Don't do that."

"I'll take you to Zonko's to make up for it," Harry promised. "Now, get dressed." He pointed to his trunk and a set of child-sized clothes flew out, floating around Teddy's head like a halo. Bad mood forgotten, Teddy giggled and jumped for the flying clothes.

"That's my future Seeker," Harry said, patting him on the head and leading him downstairs. Crookshanks followed behind them, his fur tickling Harry's ankles. The cat quickly left them when he saw a bowl of cat food near the breakfast buffet table.

"Good morning, Misters Lupin—" Teddy proudly puffed out his stomach at being called Mister, and Mrs. Diggory winked at Harry "—I trust you slept well?"

"Like the dead," Harry said, and was directed to the food table and told to sit on the balcony, as it was a beautiful morning outside. "Do you have a Daily Prophet?" he asked while piling food on two plates.

While Teddy ate on his own (he was a big boy now, as he told Harry, and could eat and dress by himself), Harry looked over the Daily Prophet. The date was Saturday, September 7th, 1923, over eighty years before Harry's yesterday, which had been September 7th, 2004. Harry hadn't been sure just how far back in time he would go, and he was happy to see that they arrived in the period between the World Wars but before 1929, the year Merope Riddle became pregnant with Tom Riddle Jr.

Back in the future, Harry hadn't planned for very much past preventing the birth of Voldemort (and therefore the aftermath of the Second Wizarding War) and taking care of Teddy (and Crookshanks, who could take care of himself but had other people do it for him), so he decided to go where fate took him for the moment.

Breakfast was scrumptious, which Harry made sure to assure Mrs. Diggory of (not only was it polite, but he couldn't help the guilt that seeped into his mind whenever he thought of the Diggory family), and Harry and Teddy left for Zonko's with time to spare for the noon opening. They ambled over from the residential district of Hogsmeade to the shops, where Teddy joined a line of Hogwarts students to enter the first joke shop in the history of the village.

Evidently, it was a Hogsmeade weekend, and with Harry's luck he was noticed by the very person he hoped to avoid: Transfiguration professor Albus Dumbledore, who wore robes the color of the giant squid set on fire, but looked no less daunting to Harry. In this life, he could not share with Albus his secrets. For one, the man would not believe him, or be weary of him if he did. For another, he was not the Albus Dumbledore Harry knew and loved. Harry had spent years with the older Dumbledore, and his portrait as well, and this man was not the same person Harry knew. As much as it pained him, he couldn't so easily trust him.

"Mr. Lupin," Albus' familiar voice called. "I'm glad to see you're unharmed. I was worried you or your son might have had unknown injuries after last night."

Inwardly, Harry groaned. How was he supposed to keep his distance when Albus was just so friendly? He steeled himself from the power of candy and sweetness. "No, no, we're doing fine." Harry's eyes swept from Albus to the boy whose robe Albus held in a pinch. He had the unhappy expression of a caught troublemaker, and Harry couldn't help asking, "Get caught without a signed Hogsmeade slip?"

The boy blinked, and scowled sourly at Harry as well at Albus. "Yes."

Albus' blue eyes twinkled, and Harry couldn't help smiling.

Albus and Harry quickly exchanged goodbyes, after Harry assured him that all was well in the Lupin household, and Harry turned his attention back to Teddy.

"Is this Uncle George's?" Teddy asked.

"Ah, no," Harry said. "It's like Uncle George's, though."

The location of the shop was the same, as George, suave businessman that he was, had put Zonko's out of business after two years of operating Weasley's Wizard Weezeys in Diagon Alley. When Zonko's finally closed, George bought its shop and the contracts to some of its products.

They spent a half hour looking at the shop's wares (Candy Mountains had nothing on Skiving Snackboxes), until Teddy was noticeably tired, and went back to the Cat's Cradle for a break. He tucked Teddy in for a nap and ordered Crookshanks to watch him. The cat settled in on Harry's bed and kept his eyes on Teddy.

Sometimes, Harry was worried about how smart the cat was. First it had tried to help Sirius kidnap Wormtail, then helped him escape, and now it watched Teddy on Harry's request. Harry himself went downstairs to talk to Mrs. Diggory about housing prospects.

"Wouldn't your wife want to help choose the house?" Mrs. Diggory asked as she pointed out different magical communities in Britain.

"Teddy's mother passed away a few years ago," Harry replied. He was uncomfortable misleading the nice old lady, but it was best to head off any personal questions, and such a close death would put off any questions such as whether he was married.

Mrs. Diggory almost dropped her wand, and it took almost a minute to calm her down enough to tell him more about wizarding housing.

"Well, as you know, we have a nice little community here in Hogsmeade, but it is a bit close to the school. Not exactly quiet, not with the students on weekends and all the beasts in the forest to the west and the mountains to the north." She pointed to another place on the map, farther south, and said, "Now here is Godric's Hollow. A tad expensive, but nice all the same. Many great wizards live there, and children do so need good role models."

Harry shook his head. "Price isn't an issue, but I'm not sure I want to live there." Not so close to where his parents had died – would die – would never die, if he had a chance to make things better.

Mrs. Diggory looked curious, but she obviously didn't want to ask another sad question, so she continued, "There's also Helga's Valley, Salazar's Cavern — actually, you really don't want to live there, I shouldn't have even mentioned it — and, of course, Rowena's Brook. A lovely place. My daughter and her husband live there, and they say only good things. You should also consider the residential districts of Diagon Alley, and perhaps the half-wizard, half-Muggle communities on the shore and in London."

With a better understanding of available places, Harry searched Mrs. Diggory's listings for a realtor, whom he fire-called and set up an appointment with the next business day.

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The next day, Harry woke earlier and almost like himself again. Time travel had taken more out of him than he'd thought it would. While Teddy slept, Harry took care of some long overdue accounting and double-checking of the magical objects he'd brought along with them. Downstairs, he ordered a cup of coffee and a newspaper.

As he was putting away his paper, Teddy walked downstairs with Crookshanks at his heels. Every other step, Teddy would reach down and run his fingers through Crookshanks' fur, which the cat allowed. The tips of his fingers turned red and brown like the cat's fur, unconsciously demonstrating his Metamorphmagus abilities.

"Teddy," Harry said, calling his attention to him. "Focus."

Teddy pulled down a lock of his hair first, checking the color, then turned his hands over to check his fingers. His hair, hands, and feet were the most common places that changed color without his knowledge, and he stared down at his hands until they turned pale again.

"Sorry, Dad," he muttered.

"I'm not mad. I just want you to be able to control it," he said.

Mrs. Diggory looked at them curiously, probably thinking they were talking about accidental magic. Harry didn't dissuade her from the idea, and instead asked Teddy if he wanted to go for a morning walk around Hogsmeade.

Teddy scrunched his nose and pouted. "But that's boring! Can we have ice cream?"

"And some food, too," Harry said sternly. "We'll be back in a few hours, Mrs. Diggory." He looked at Crookshanks. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

The cat meowed and looked at him in a way that Harry just knew was cat code for, "Really? I'll make sure to seek revenge on my enemies and try to get myself killed."

"Touche," he muttered, hoping Mrs. Diggory didn't decide he was mad.

He and Teddy apparated to the Leaky Cauldron, where he ordered them a late lunch and sat in a booth. The same booth, in fact, as the one in which he, Hermione, and Ron, sat at years in the future while Teddy was over at Mrs. Weasley's. They would get together at least once a month to catch up on their lives, since none of them worked in one place anymore, and Harry had a big responsibility with Teddy.

It made him nostalgic for the past, his past, the future, and Harry had to remind himself that he willingly left that life. It had been his choice. He just had to make the best of it.

And looking around at the original Leaky Cauldron, not one half destroyed after the second war, with Teddy's laughter in the background, made it worth it to continue, if it didn't make everything better.

Once Teddy finished eating, they walked to Florean's Ice Cream Parlor hand in little hand, and Teddy ordered a Goblin Sunday (Harry discretely asked them to make it a size super small) and a raspberry chocolate chip waffle cone for Harry from memory. They ate on the stools by the counter, legs swinging, until Harry decided to have a talk with Teddy.

"Teddy, I need to ask you something," Harry said seriously. Teddy glanced up from his plate. "Would you mind having a sister?"

Teddy's hair went orange in surprise, but quickly settled back to brown. "A girl? Forever?" he asked.

Harry took his hands in his. "Yes. For... some time, anyway. I want to take care of her. I feel like it's my duty, even though it doesn't make much sense."

"Is she like me?" Teddy asked. He could have been talking about his ability, but Harry said,

"No, older. Fifteen, maybe sixteen years old." He clarified, "An older kid."

"She wouldn't fit in our room."

Harry was relieved that was Teddy's only problem. "I'm buying a house."

Teddy nodded slowly, as if thinking through the idea. "Is she nice?"

Harry thought for a moment. Love potions, coercion, forced marriage, abandonment of a child, though that could be argued... "Yes," he decided. Until any of those things happened in this time, he would have hope that Merope Gaunt was a nice person inside. Believing the best of people should never be a bad thing.

It was still light when he and Teddy walked down Diagon Alley and apparated back to the Cat's Cradle, but Teddy looked tired enough to fall asleep immediately, which he did. Harry changed his clothes into pajamas him while he slept, thinking of the many things he had to do. Maybe it wasn't the best decision, to come back alone, but he would never be alone as long as he had Teddy, and everyone he knew had lives they had to attend to. Harry didn't see himself as expendable, but he knew he was the one with the weakest link to the Wizarding world. He didn't have a job or a family other than Teddy, and he barely lived inside the Wizarding world. He was the best person to go back in time. The most available. And if Ron and Hermione were to be believed, the most deserving of a chance to make things right. Harry hoped their trust in him wasn't misplaced.

And he really hoped he didn't muck things up, because he had a billion to one chance of being able to change history again.

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The next day, Harry paid a little extra for Mrs. Diggory's child daycare services and left Teddy in her capable hands when he went to visit Mr. Jones, his realtor.

The meeting with his realtor, already scheduled for late in the day, ran overtime into late evening. Harry quickly realized that although he got a cursory understanding of magical communities from Mrs. Diggory, he needed to know exactly what he wanted in order for Mr. Jones to buy him the perfect home.

His old home in Godric's Hollow currently belonged to Andromeda's father, his parents' home belonged to a nice young Muggle-born couple who wasn't likely to relocate anytime soon, and the Black family mansion definitely wouldn't be his in this life, so Harry was at a loss to where he wanted to live.

"Somewhere with a good-sized yard," Harry said. "And a Quidditch pitch nearby."

Then, to Mr. Jones' displeasure, Harry couldn't settle on how many bedrooms he wanted. He also refused to live in Godric's Hollow without being able to state a good reason, one that would help Mr. Jones disqualify other magical communities.

He refused to settle in Ottery St. Catchpole, where Molly Prewett and Arthur Weasley grew up. He didn't want to see his surrogate parents as toddlers. It was just too awkward.

By the time they finished, Mr. Jones looked ready to pull his hair out in frustration, and Harry just wanted to leave everything and go home. Except, he couldn't go home as he didn't have a home yet, and therefore he set up another appointment, this time deciding to outline his preferences beforehand in written form.

He Apparated from Diagon Alley to right outside of the Cat's Cradle, tired but happy to see its cheery wallpaper. He might get some for Teddy's room when they finally had a house — it was somehow soothing.

He was about to get changed for bed when he heard a scream from the next room, one loud enough to overpower the silencing charms. As a former Auror, Harry didn't have to think before grabbing his wand and rushing out the door. He kicked in the door to the left of his room and yelled, "Stuptefy!" with his wand pointed at a man holding a knife at the room's second occupant. The man with the knife moved away just in time and Harry's spell hit the wall, leaving a scorch mark in the wallpaper.

But Harry had bigger things to worry about than Mrs. Diggory's ire when the masked man's knife transformed into a wand. Their wands were pointed at one another, neither sure if their spells would hit, when Harry heard voices coming closer.

"I thought I heard something..."

"A scream, here at the Cat's Cradle!"

"We should call the Aurors. We should, we should."

Quicker than Harry could imagine, the masked man jumped out the window. Harry ran to the windowsill, but the man had vanished, leaving Harry to deal with the crowd of people.

"Mr. Lupin! What is the meaning of this racket?" Mrs. Diggory exclaimed.

"He — he saved me!" said a voice to Harry's left. Harry turned to the man he had saved. He was very tall and thin, but had somehow squeezed himself into the farthest corner of the bed.

And, as evidenced by his story, he had forgotten he was a wizard.

"And then I heard something in the window, but I thought it was a bird, and owl, maybe. I went to open it and there's this man! He blasted open the window and I yelled stop, but his wand became a knife and I thought I was going to die! Then this man comes in-" he looked to Harry, as if to say he should continue the story, but Harry shook his head, uncomfortable with the attention. "—and he stopped him from killing me!"

"But who was he? Why was he after you?" asked one of the curious guests.

"I— I don't know. He must have been a maniac, going around killing random wizards. It was a very horrible experience. I think I want to rest now."

Harry lingered in the room, trying to decide if he wanted to ask, but decided it wasn't any of his business if the man was being hunted.

He did leave with a parting piece of advice, saying, "You should either hire someone to protect you, or go through your Defense Against the Dark Arts textbooks."

The man nodded, still shaken, and Harry left without another word.

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All of you wonderful people who reviewed are so totally awesome! (Seriously, you have no idea how much I squee at reviews.) So, y'know, feel very free to review!


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE  
**

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The next morning Harry decided to work harder at finding a house for him and Teddy. It was better to leave the Cat's Cradle as soon as possible, considering his encounter with Mr. Little's would-be killer. It was one thing to stay in the homelike inn while it was safe, but another to stay after he had stopped an assassin from killing a man who still hadn't moved out of the inn. Harry didn't know why exactly the man had someone out to kill him, but the man had seemed determined, and Harry had Teddy to look out for.

Wolfgang Little had impressed on Mrs. Diggory his sorrow at being attacked in her inn, and convinced her to let him stay for another week as he simply could not leave.

He explained the story to Harry and several others at breakfast that day after coming downstairs with a sorrowful expression on his face.

"I cannot believe it," he moaned.

Teddy looked up from his food. "You don't look like Aunt Hermione."

"What?"

"That's what Aunt Hermione says all the time to Aunt Luna. You're not Aunt Hermione."

"No, but I am homeless," Mr. Little replied with a heavy sight. "I went to my house this morning to check on my toad—I would've brought him with me, but you know how loud it is here in Hogsmeade, and poor Burt doesn't like noise—and then I found it burned down! Completely and totally! I couldn't even go through the floo. I had to apparate there. Almost had a heart attack at the sight, yes I did."

"Didn't you have fireproofing charms?" Harry asked. Or any protective wards at all, he wondered inwardly. Usually older, more affluent houses had enough protective wards that a strange wizard couldn't even go near the house if he or she had ill intent, and Mr. Little's elegant waistcoat suggested that he had no lack of gold.

The nearby roomers, on the other hand, shared a look that clearly said, "What kind of forty year old person has a pet toad?"

Mr. Little shook his head wildly, throwing his long hair all over the place. "But why would I need to? I never thought I'd have fire. It's the worst misfortune. All my research material, lost forever!"

Teddy stared at Mr. Little for a moment, then slowly his brown hair grew out until it was past his shoulders, imitating Mr. Little's style. Harry ruffled the kid's newly long hair with a smile. "Good job controlling it," he praised.

"You didn't keep any copies of your work?" someone asked Mr. Little.

"One of my friends has a few works that I left with her to edit, some essays and the like. None of the serious stuff. Oh, my life is ruined!"

Harry finished his meal, idly thinking of what he could do to prevent a house fire. He didn't have many personal belongings that he'd miss if his house (the one he would ideally buy soon) burned down, but it would be a costly problem. He would have to discuss it with the warding crew, he supposed.

In the end, he said his goodbyes and left with Teddy to the realtor's office. He didn't trust Teddy at the inn, not when the assassin might come back for revenge and decide Teddy was an adequate target.

.

Perhaps it was because Teddy's boundless enthusiasm that eased things along, but this meeting went much better than the last.

Harry still refused to settle in the most popular wizarding communities, Hogsmeade and Godric's Hollow. If he settled in Godric's Hollow, there was the all too certain probability of running into his grandparents, as most Potters lived in the big town. And Hogsmeade, no matter how nice, wasn't the best place to raise a child. Even if Harry's years at Hogwarts were extraordinary in their level of danger, Harry wanted to keep Teddy away from Hogwarts until he was old enough to deal with wandering trolls and giant squids.

The friction between them decreased with the easy energy of Teddy, and they finally settled on a neighborhood: Rowena's Brook. It was quiet enough that Harry would feel comfortable there, but with enough children for Teddy to play with. Mr. Jones took them house hunting that very day, and they settled on a four bedroom, one story home that Teddy adored. Eventually, they did find the perfect home. It was located on a quiet street on Rowena's Brook, a few houses away from the actual brook itself. The house was one story with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, an attic, a kitchen, and a living and dining room. Teddy loved it immediately, and Harry decided that with a bit of work, it would be perfect.

The house had been empty for close to three years, and although it had been kept under lock and key, it probably had piping and dust problems. It also had a case of doxies in the living room curtains, as Harry pointed out, having seen too many cases of the problem in Grimmauld Place, and a particularly vibrant shade of pink wallpaper in the master bedroom. But overall, he had to agree that the house was in good condition after its old owners left it a few years ago.

The owners hadn't listed a reason for leaving, but they left in a hurry for retirement in New Zealand and had all their belongings shipped afterwards. Harry thought them a bit odd, but the oddities of the former owners didn't affect them very much.

"What are the neighbors like?" he asked the realtor. "And are there children that live nearby? I wouldn't want Teddy to grow up isolated."

"Oh, yes, there should be." He looked around. "Yes, the Diggorys are right over there—" he pointed across the street "—and they have two children, one in Hogwarts, the other almost, along with a Black family, who have a son around your own son's age. I'm sure they'll get along."

They might if Harry taught Teddy to subscribe to pureblood supremacy notions, Harry thought, but unlikely otherwise. Mr. Jones listed a few other names he didn't recognize, so Harry was assured Teddy would have his choice of playmates.

.

After being assured by Mr. Jones that they could move in whenever they were ready, Harry took a drooping Teddy back to their room at the Cat's Cradle.

"C'mon, bedtime, kiddo." It was only six, but he and Teddy had walked around a lot that day, and Teddy looked dead on his feet. He'd rather deal with Teddy waking up at six in the morning than putting a crabby kid to bed in a few hours.

"Are we moving tomorrow, Dad?" Teddy asked as Harry tucked him in.

"No, it'll take a little while. We'll move soon."

"But I like it here," Teddy whined. "There's lots of cats." That was true; Mrs. Diggory owned six cats in addition to the neighbors' cats, who liked to walk around the grounds.

"Maybe Crookshanks will find a girlfriend near our house," Harry suggested.

Crookshanks meowed.

"See? He's agreeing."

Teddy looked at Crookshanks. "Really?"

Crookshanks meowed again, and Teddy took it for a yes, although to Harry it sounded more like a resounding "No."

Harry sat on the edge of Teddy's bed until Teddy fell asleep, thinking about how Teddy's other guardian would've felt about all this. Andromeda had died before Harry had a chance to really get to know her, and before she had gotten the chance to see him grow up. He wished she had lived to see him now: grown up, taking care of Teddy, buying a house like any other adult.

Andromeda had still been alive the first time Harry had gone shopping for a house, back when he and Ginny had thought they would get married. When they looked around, he'd been surprised how similar the modern houses were to muggle homes, though he'd felt something was missing. Later, he realized it was the lack of a garage that jarred him. Wizards had no need for cars, and therefore no need for garages. Harry was too used to living in muggle suburbs. Andromeda had laughed at him when he pointed out the strangeness of it. It was one of the few memories he had of her laughter. After the war, too many people were somber.

Hopefully, in time he could prevent the same tragedies from occurring. At the present, there were many small things he had to do to get settled into the time.

For the next few hours, Harry floo-called various home inspection, cleaning, warding, and insurance companies. He gathered that they would be able to settle into their new home in about a week, or less if he worked out home insurance with the goblins. He made a mental note to go to Gringotts the next day. He needed to deposit his gold, anyway.

After some thought, he added a few spells to the room. One to wake him up if his door or window were opened, and another few in case of fire or extreme ill intent. Spelling the rooms wasn't encouraged in hotels, but he was sure Mrs. Diggory would understand his safety measures after the attack.

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Feel very free to tell me what you think!


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR**

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Harry slept uneasily that night, but nothing untoward happened in Mr. Little's or his own room. He considered leaving Teddy in Mrs. Diggory's likely very capable hands, but decided to err on the side of caution. It wasn't that he wanted to leave Teddy there, but Gringotts was cold and damp on a good day, and practically hypothermic on a bad one. For a small child like Teddy, it meant he'd develop a cold in minutes. So instead of paying for childcare services, he left his room with Teddy and his trunk, thanked Mrs. Diggory for recommending Rowena's Brook, and wished Mr. Little better luck. The depressed man thanked him with little enthusiasm.

"Did you like the neighborhood, dear?" she asked after handing Teddy an extra-large cookie with a wink. "You can't start the day without one."

"We've even found the perfect house. We're just going to set things up with Gringotts and then move in."

"And Dad says Crookshanks will meet a girlfriendcat there!" Teddy said in between chewing on the cookie. Harry sighed. He'd known he'd regret that comment.

"I'm sure my niece will be delighted to have another child living on the block," Mrs. Diggory said delightedly. With a stage whisper, she told Teddy, "And she even has a cat! Although it's a boy cat, so he and Crookshanks will be best friends."

They left the Cat's Cradle through the fireplace, and soon found themselves in the long row of fireplaces in Gringott's entrance hall.

Harry checked both himself and Teddy for soot, then cast a few charms on their hair to make themselves look slightly more presentable. He'd never understood the goblins' penchant for propriety, but seeing as he was hoping to set up a working relationship with them, it wouldn't hurt to brush up on his manners.

The line wasn't terribly long – they had managed to beat the rush by coming in early, and the only people in line did their business easily and quickly.

When it was his turn in line, Harry took Teddy by the hand and told the goblin, "Good morning. I'd like to set up an account."

The goblin pointed one long-nailed finger at an out-of-the-way door marked, _Gornuk – New Accounts Manager_. "That way. Gornuk will see you."

Harry nodded and steered Teddy towards the door.

Teddy worried his lip. "Uncle Thomas—"

"I know," Harry answered. Teddy's Uncle Thomas had talked about the odd goblin who'd escaped with him and Ted Tonks, and died in a struggle against the snatchers. Harry hadn't known him personally, but it seemed he would soon enough.

After being called in, Harry and Teddy sat down in front of Gornuk's large wooden desk. It should have made the goblin seem small in comparison, but instead the two fit in an odd sort of way.

"I assume you would like to establish a new account, Mr. Lupin," Gornuk began after the introductions, handing Harry a packet of papers. "The first thing you must know is that to create a new account line at Gringotts, you must break ties with any account you own or are set to inherit by blood, magic, or agreement. Do you understand these rules? If you need clarification, it is explained on pages two and three."

"I understand," Harry replied. He understood that it was an antiquated notion that purebloods had insisted on in order to keep their children in the family – since if they created a new account that did not fall under the umbrella of the main family's accounts, they would end up penniless and monetarily disinherited – or keep other family members from being able to inherit. Once they set up a new account, they would no longer be able to inherit an account from their parents or siblings, unless specifically stated in a new will.

Hermione had thought the idea was utter nonsense, and pushed – successfully – to abolish the law after the war.

"Read the first paragraph on the fourth page aloud and sign on the dotted line. This is a binding agreement through blood and magic and will be automatically broken if your account at Gringotts must be closed. I assume your deposit is in your trunk?"

Harry nodded as he signed on the line. He barely felt the blood quill draw blood, but grimaced all the same. Two documents appeared on Gornuk's desk before the blood on the paper dried.

"These are for you from your former houses," Gornuk told him as he took the trunk. "You may take them with you." He pressed a nearby bell with his long finger, and a shorter, younger-looking goblin left with Harry's trunk. "Griphook will create your vault and deposit your money. Would you like to create a dependent account at this time?"

Harry looked toward Teddy, then shook his head. "No thank you. I'll do it when he's a little older." To Teddy, he added, "And we'll also see the vault later, okay?"

"Kay," Teddy nodded.

By the time Griphook came back with two sheets of paper, Harry had almost filled out the mass of paperwork that Gornuk had given him. Interest rates, inheritance, minimum balances, and the rest of it, were driving him crazy. Gornuk gave Harry one of the sheets of paper – a record of his first deposit in his vault – and they both signed.

"Good day, Mr. Lupin," the goblin said, without the slightest hint that Harry had deposited a crazy sum of money – the Potter and Black accounts from his day added together – and gained the bank a rich customer. If anything, he loved that goblins were completely blasé about how much money their customers had, as long as they paid their dues on time.

"Good day, Mr. Gornuk."

.

It was good to see the sun after spending over an hour inside Gringotts, Harry thought with a smile. Teddy was similarly excited, and together they went to visit Mr. Jones and finalized the buying of their new home. Afterwards they bought their first furniture for the house – three beds and various kitchen appliances.

"We'll have to get the rest later," Harry told Teddy. "We can't move in yet, after all. We still have to hear back from the warding and bug people."

"But after that?"

"Then you can choose whatever you want," Harry promised. "Just no green!"

They spent the rest of the day in Diagon Alley, visiting shops and buying odds and ends for their new home. Teddy was excited throughout the day, but Harry couldn't help feeling nostalgic and somewhat somber. Teddy was young – he'd make friends with the Diggory boy across the street, and maybe even the Black children – but Harry had left his lifelong friends in the future. He wasn't sure that when the time came to invite people to their new home, he would be able to make friendships as strong as those he'd left behind.

.

The next morning Harry received an owl from the house evaluation and warding crews, both of whom told him that his house was ready to be moved into. It wouldn't do to put the move off, so Harry quickly sent an owl to the furniture store they'd visited yesterday with the address they should deliver his furniture to.

He scoured the house with more cleaning charms, just in case, changed the wallpaper and the color of some of the wall paint, and found a way to have lights in Teddy's room turn on when he clapped his hands. If he'd ever loved magic more, he couldn't remember it. Doing everything the muggle way would've taken ages instead of a day.

Teddy picked his room, which had a pretty side view of the river, but was startlingly empty except for the bed and conjured sheets. Harry promised him that they'd go out to buy things later and fell asleep in the master bedroom. When Teddy crawled in with him later with his teddy bear in one hand and the other in Crookshanks' fur, Harry just let him in and slept.

.

In the next few days, the Lupin household was flooded with guests and their various housewarming gifts. The first to come were the curious neighbors across the street, the Diggorys, who gave them a brilliant cherry pie and told Harry with relieved expressions that he was nothing like the old owners of the house.

"They were loony, all of them. Loud noises all through the night. We were sure happy to see them leave, but then the house stayed open for years. We thought no one would buy it until you came," said Mrs. Diggory before cooing over Teddy and inviting them both for dinner the following week.

The next few neighbors called on them in the following days, as owl-order furniture kept coming and coming, along with dishes and other household necessities. Harry ordered himself a garden kit, thinking it might be a good way to spruce up the view. He hadn't liked gardening as a kid living with the Dursleys, but now that he had gotten older and had a lot more free time, he liked the idea.

By the time the last visitor came, Harry was well-versed in the art of greeting a new neighbor. First, one of the family members or the whole family would come over with a homemade dish, usually a pie. Then they would sit down for tea, ask questions about why he'd moved there, coo over Teddy, tell him about the neighborhood, and invite him and his "darling child" to dinner. Harry couldn't say he enjoyed the attention, but he was happy to be accepted in the community.

All this made his last visitor all the more strange.

At around ten in the morning, the visitor knocked on the door. She looked middle-aged, which made her around sixty to seventy years old by Harry's novice wizarding age estimation.

"Hello," he greeted. Harry was ready to accept whatever edible offering she brought when he noticed she wasn't carrying anything. Nor did she look very happy, especially when she began speaking in an annoyed tone.

"I assume you're the new neighbor?"

"Yes?" Harry wondered what he'd done to annoy her.

"Good. Listen up: If you disturb my sleep, which is between eight in the evening and eight in the morning, I will sue."

Harry gaped. "Excuse me? You can't just assume—"

"You're young and probably have some young wife, and young people are loud."

Harry wasn't proud to say he slammed the door in her face.

.

His next meeting with the woman, a few days afterwards, wasn't very much better. He was outside, planting tomatoes and wondering about how well they'd grow, as he was planting them late in the season, while Teddy was playing in their newly constructed sandbox in the back yard. And that was when the Grinch, as he'd taken to calling her in his head, stalked through her yard.

Brilliant, Harry thought. She lived right next door.

Two decades of politeness warred with utter dislike, but Harry didn't want a feud with his next door neighbor. So with a gusty sigh he called, "Good morning!"

The woman looked at him, scowling, but answered, "Morning."

Harry decided she wasn't a morning person and was about to leave and let her pull weeds in peace when another person exited the side door of the house. The two women were about the same age, but this one had a wide smile on her face.

"Hello, Mr. Lupin!" she called across the lawn, then came over to shake hands. "It's good to finally meet you! My name is Fannis Prince, but please call me Fanny. I would have introduced myself earlier, but I've been away to visit family for the past two weeks." She leaned in, winking, and said, "I think Bathilda's in a sour mood because she's had to do all the household chores and deal with my cats."

"Bathilda?" Harry asked, suddenly remembering exactly how he'd met Bathilda Bagshot the last time. Well, at least she wasn't a man-eating snake this time, he consoled himself.

Fanny nodded. "Bathilda Bagshot. She's written a history book, maybe you've read it?"

"Yeah, I have." One of the many she would write, anyway. He wondered which book it was, and thankfully Fanny left without asking Harry what his favorite part was. The next time Harry went to Diagon Alley, though, he grabbed a copy of "Early Wizarding History, 1200 to 1400". It wouldn't hurt to be prepared.

.

Harry spent the next two weeks painting, adding furniture to his house and coaxing his garden to grow, and when the third bedroom was in good shape, he knew he was ready to act. He left Teddy at the day care center he scoped out when he visited Gringotts and apparated to one place he never wanted to visit again: Little Hangleton's graveyard.

Memories colored his perception of the graveyard, and he had to stop and close his eyes for a moment to stay the reminders of his humanity. He could still die, and he knew that better than most. Marvolo and Morfin Gaunt were dangerous people. Hell, Merope Gaunt was dangerous herself. It would take one slip of a love potion to bind his mind to her wishes.

But — that memory of Merope cringing at her father's hand, of being choked by an uncaring person who should be her protector, haunted him. He couldn't stand aside while she was being abused, even if she was Voldemort's Mum. He could help her. But being a father had taught him that he couldn't put himself in dangerous situations anymore. Teddy needed him, now more than ever since they knew no one in this time. He couldn't die on him, and so he had to do this carefully.

His story set, Harry headed to the Gaunts' hut. Maybe he had been unobservant at seventeen, or naive, but Harry didn't remember the hut being so terrible. Staring at it with new eyes, he realized it was only the size of a tiny room, and it looked as though it was falling apart.

He knocked on the door, avoiding the snake nailed to it. Morfin Gaunt answered.

"Yeah?" he said with a sneer. It was the only expression Harry had ever seen on him.

"I'd like to talk to your father," Harry said. When Morfin didn't move, he added, "It's important."

Morfin walked back, scowling, and kicked a lump of blankets at the far side of the hut. A girl's whimpers sounded. Harry clenched his teeth, hoping he wasn't projecting his anger but knowing he wouldn't be able to help his expression.

"Get up and find Dad," Morfin ordered and the girl quickly left the hut, brushing past Harry on her way out. She didn't look up.

They stood in the doorway in silence, as Morfin didn't invite Harry into the house, until the girl came back with an older man: Marvolo Gaunt. He carried a dead rabbit, likely the family's meal, and sneered at Harry.

"What do you want?" he asked. "You interrupted my hunting." He handed the rabbit to Merope and ordered her to skin and cook it.

"My name is Harry Lupin," he began, eying Marvolo wearily. He was carrying both a knife and a wand, and Harry didn't trust him with either. Blood dripped from the knife. "And I would like to adopt your daughter."

Marvolo snorted. "Fat chance of that. What do you want with a Squib like her?"

"I've always wanted a daughter," Harry said, not letting himself become wistful. He did want one, and this life he led wasn't likely to give him one anytime soon, but he barely wanted to adopt Merope Gaunt. He didn't let his feelings show. "I have a son who will be my heir, but I've wanted a daughter to love and spoil for a long while. Then, a few weeks ago, I thought to visit my distant cousins, and noticed you had a girl. You don't want her, nor do you treat her well. Let me adopt her."

"I treat her like she damn well deserves to be treated!" Marvolo hissed. "How dare you — _Confringo_!"

Harry yelled a shield charm just in time, then stared at the snake and hissed back, "I'll treat her a sight better than you would."

Marvolo snorted, baring his teeth at Harry like an animal. "Admit it, you want to marry her. Good breeding, obedient enough. You saw her and thought she'd be the perfect wife."

Harry clenched his teeth. "I want to make sure my cousin—" a claim they couldn't disprove, since they'd just seen him speaking parseltongue "—is well looked after, not abused by her father and brother."

"Five hundred Galleons or nothing," Marvolo bargained. "Not that she's worth a Knut."

It rankled him, but Harry agreed. "Fine. As you give me your word you'll never seek her out again," Harry said and pulled out a blank check. Signing off on the exchange, he handed it to Marvolo.

"Girl!" Marvolo called, grabbing her as soon as she came in sight. "This is your new husband."

Harry sucked in what he wanted to say and only said, "Goodbye, Mr. Gaunt."

The man grinned, showing crooked yellow teeth. He didn't seem accustomed to smiling, though, because his smile was just too feral. "Take the Squib and leave, Mr. Lupin, before I change my mind."

Harry took his eyes off the Gaunt men to reach for Merope, but the second he lowered his wand, Morfin tackled him. Harry's breath was forcibly drawn out as Morfin got ready to bash his head into the ground, but his choked, "_Expelliarmus_!" blew Morfin away. He slumped against the side of the hut while Harry kept his wand on Marvolo. This time, Harry didn't look at Merope. Instead he kept his eyes of Marvolo and Morfin, and said, "Will you come with me?" without looking at her.

She put her hand in his outstretched one and Harry disapparated them.

They reappeared at the Little Hangleton graveyard, where Harry sat down with his back against the gravestone of an eighteenth century Tom Riddle.

"I thought you were taking me away," Merope accused angrily. "This is nearby. Are you leaving me here?"

"No," Harry said. "I need to have a talk with you, and this place will remind me of certain things I need to remember."

Like that little Merope, unattractive but oddly sweet, was the mother of the man who killed Harry's classmate in front of his eyes at this very graveyard. Harry didn't put much stock in the concept of bad blood, but Merope had the worst, and Harry couldn't trust her to be an angel in his home. Sex with someone under the influence of a love potion was rape, and her father likely hadn't taught her any useful morals.

"I'm not going to marry you," he said. "I don't care what you heard or what your father said to you, I'm not interested in you in that way. I visited once undercover and realized you were treated badly, and I couldn't let a relative of mine stay in a home like that." No matter who she could grow up to be, he couldn't knowingly let her be abused. And in a twisted way, she was family — his artificial relation with Voldemort, caused by him using Harry's blood, made Merope Harry's pseudo-mother for a few years. They were also more distantly related to the three Peverell brothers' parents, about sixteen generations apart. Harry barely considered that a relation.

He continued, "But I have a son who I care about, and I want to make a few things clear. You will not harm him in any way. You will not try to harm me in any way, and that includes coercion spells and love potions. I would like you to live with me, and if you can't follow those two rules, I will put you in a house far away with some money and make sure you can't harm anyone ever again. Have I made myself clear?"

She nodded. "What will my... duties be in your home?"

"Learn magic, for one. I don't believe you're a Squib. Keep your room tidied. Take care of Teddy occasionally if I can't."

"That's all?" she asked incredulously. "I just don't understand why you rescued me. You didn't have to. You don't need me."

"It was the right thing to do." He hoped that one day, she would understand that. And he hoped like hell that he hadn't just made a terrible decision.

They apparated home with Merope in a pensive expression, and Teddy greeted them with smiles and laughter, immediately wanting to be hugged by his new sister. Harry chuckled at Merope's gobsmacked expression. Maybe Teddy would be good with her, too. Harry separated them when Teddy tried to tug her over to his toys, and directed her to the third bedroom.

It was painted a soft blue, and held a bed, a table, a bookshelf with beginners' books on magic, and a dresser. Harry patted her on the shoulder when she seemed to be unable to speak, and pointed at the door leading to the bathroom.

"Thank you," she whispered, almost breathing out the word. Her expression was so grateful and helpless that Harry couldn't help abandoning some of the dislike he held for her. She was just a girl, after all.


End file.
